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What cruise line is best for rewards


chipsdog
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i gamble quite a bit on a cruise, which is the best cruise line to use to get free trips. Eg in Vegas I always get my hotel (Venetian) room free, is there any ship that would be similar. I might as well stay loyal to one brand and eventually get something out of it. Hope this makes sense

 

Thank you

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i gamble quite a bit on a cruise, which is the best cruise line to use to get free trips. Eg in Vegas I always get my hotel (Venetian) room free, is there any ship that would be similar. I might as well stay loyal to one brand and eventually get something out of it. Hope this makes sense

 

Thank you

 

We are gambling cruisers as well, and have cruised NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, and RCCL and been in all their casino programs. In our opinion NCL has always had the best casino rewards program. Their program is called Casinos At Seas, or CAS. It's easy to start off with NCL too. If you're a CET Total Rewards member, you will automatically qualify for a % discount on your first cruise. That % is based on your CET level when you book through CAS. After that, you can call and book with CAS for any cruise you are interested in and they will offer you whatever comp you are eligible for based on your play on your past cruise.

 

In our opinion, CAS has always been the most liberal with comps as compared to the other cruise lines. Of course, your comps are always based on your previous play on their ships. And yes, it definitely makes sense to find one cruise line casino program and stay with it. You will benefit from moving up through their tier system as you cruise more and more.

 

Here's the NCL CAS page: https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/casino-cruise

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While I do love CAS I am not happy with the changes. They have raised the qualifications on losses for comps and they hold any wins you make against you when calculating your next comp, points earned mean nothing outside of your perks/tier level onboard.

 

Royal Caribbean has now updated their comp system to be clear on what your next comp will be based on the points earned on any sailings.

 

While I do have a few comped cruises booked with CAS I am in the process of booking a comp on the Anthem due to the changes.

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I got the offer for the Norwegian Cruise through Foxwoods also, Does anyone know where this ports out of? Is it all inclusive? And also what fees do you have to pay? I always feel like somethings are too good to be true :) Thanks for your help.

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i gamble quite a bit on a cruise, which is the best cruise line to use to get free trips.

 

I have been going with Royal Caribbean lately. They send a good many free and discounted offers to me. I am not a huge gambler as I typically bring $2K or less with me on a 7 day cruise. In the 18 months since I first went on a Royal Caribbean cruise I have received 21 different email offers from Casino Royale ranging from $500 off select sailings to a free Junior Suite. Several were $500 or $750 off Casino Rate on any sailing offers if the select sailings were not of interest. With their new program rolling out it looks like they will be adding another free cruise (up to 8 days) based on cumulative activity over the past 12 or 15 months. Currently mulling over a collection of 42 unique ship & date pairings offering free balconies / ocean views / interiors on cruises ranging from 3 to 8 days. Sail dates on this mailing run from July through December. Free staterooms on Royal Caribbean have me paying the port fees, taxes, and gratuities which is the same as Carnival.

 

Seen comments that the offers / comps are lower than in the past and the Casino Rate does not carry as much of a discount as bygone years. Might be true however at my level of play, I think they are doing pretty well by me.

 

George

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CAS used to be the best for comps. They actually treated their bigger players very well win, lose or draw. Recently though the bigger room comps are coming only if you lose, theo loss is not considered as much.

 

My play is 95% on the tables. Here are my examples:

3 years ago-27 hours played, $460 ave bet, won low 5 figures= comped 10 day suite

2 years ago-25 hours played, $340 ave bet, won high 4 figures= comped 10 day suite

2 years ago-12 hours played, $370 ave bet, lost mid 4 figures=comped 7 day suite

last year- 31 hours played, $515 ave bet, won low 5 figures= comped 7 day balcony

last year- 22 hours played, $405 ave bet, won mid 4 figures= comped 7 day ocean view

this year-7 hours played, $265 ave bet, lost mid 4 figures=comped 10 day mini suite

 

As you can see I always play somewhat big. Some of these cruises I have put over 1 million in play. I usually play blackjack alone at the $100-200 tables. My comps have gone down even though my play was the same. Then last cruise I played very little, lost some and was comped a mini suite. They are a very smart company and are doing things differently from other casinos by rewarding more and giving better comps to the higher house edge slot machine players.

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I got the offer for the Norwegian Cruise through Foxwoods also, Does anyone know where this ports out of? Is it all inclusive? And also what fees do you have to pay? I always feel like somethings are too good to be true :) Thanks for your help.

I do not know the particulars of your Foxwoods offer. Caesars/Harrahs will typically offer us a 1 week cruise and it will be for a specific type of cabin based on our level of play with then. Ours have always been for any 7 day cruise from NCL except for Hawaii as there is not a casino on the Pride of America.

 

There will be a $20 per person per day Admin Fee. You will also pay Port Fees/Gov Taxes. The Port Fees/Gov Taxes will match what you will see noted if you do a 'mock booking' on ncl.com for the week you are interested in. You will also be eligible to receive whatever promo offers NCL is currently offering for your cruise/date/cabin type.

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CAS used to be great before the changes, now not good at all unless you lose. After 23 comped cruses thru CAS , we were told cuz we won on our cruise, no comp (only %off) and was told " you have enough of our money to pay for the cruise yourself". Sorry, but once it goes in my pocket, it is no longer "their" money.

We took our CET land based certificate and sent a copy to URCOMPED. and we have sailed 3 times on MSC (totally free-no port charges, taxes, or administration fees) and are going on RC for the first time (also free, also thru URCOMPED).

URCOMPED is a great company. Send them a screenshot of any certificate or any proof of your gambling history, you will be amazed at what you will be offered. Land based vacations too. Tell them Tina and Jeff recommended them.

Enjoy and win

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

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I got the offer for the Norwegian Cruise through Foxwoods also, Does anyone know where this ports out of? Is it all inclusive? And also what fees do you have to pay? I always feel like somethings are too good to be true :) Thanks for your help.

 

When do you need to pick up the certificate? Day and time? I have been told that I'll be on the list but they haven't given me any particulars yet.

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  • 1 month later...

With the changes at NCL CAS. I have done better with RCL. As pointed out, NCL always wanted more "fees" than RCL. RCL is starting a new casino program. Only time will tell if that will be good for the players. No absolutely free cruises yet. However taxes, admin, port fees much less than NCL. I only pay usually $100 per person give or take a bit.

I don't have any NCL booked. Last 2-3 CAS certs from CET have been file 13. Looks like two more going the same direction.

The Miami CAS group sure are looking at "losses". Not necessarily Theo, ADT or points.

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I was pretty disappointed with my last offer. I had my worst "gambling" trip on NCL, meaning no big winners/tax forms (highest single play win was $625). I played through my bank roll and only was offered a balcony/ocean view for my next comp. Last time I had a loss like this, the offer was a Spa Suite or normal suite on the Jewel class ships. I always figured that if they would give me a $5k room, that I could gamble $5k and get two for one on my money. This latest offer has me questioning that. I was told that actual losses have to be greater than $7,500 for a mini suite now, so they are tightening down. I may use my last future cruise certificate and transition to another line (stinks since we just had our first platinum cruise on NCL).

 

On a side note, for the same type of action/results last year on Carnival, I did just get an offer for their Elite cruise. I can't use this one, but hoping that the next round works with my vacation schedule. Heck, even comparing Premier prices for my family of 5, Carnival and CAS/NCL are now coming in closer than ever before. In years past, there was not even a question of where I would get the best price.

 

 

I have signed up with URCOMPED, but haven't used them yet....another possible option. Does anyone know if RCL and/or MSC have video poker in the casino?

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RCL has video poker on their ships. During past year they have been doing better comps for me than NCL.

I have had some contact with URComp, but have not booked anything. I think what has held me back is having to fly to Florida yet again for a cruise. I'd rather do NOLA or Galveston. However do have 9 day booked out of Miami in November.

My wife and I are NCL platinum.

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Just booked with URCOMPED, for the MSC Seaside in October.

I had another free cruise booked through Club Royale on Oasis from an offer sent to me.

The one thing with MSC, is the "Free is Free". I just had to pay a $200 deposit for each of us, and that gets converted to OBC once we sail. No port fees, or taxes.

But, URCOMPED gave me some other options, based on the offers that I was receiving from RCL.

I'm going to check out MSC, and see how they compare.

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.... This latest offer has me questioning that. I was told that actual losses have to be greater than $7,500 for a mini suite now, so they are tightening down.....]

 

Is your play on board mostly on Video Poker? I ask because I used to play all VP on board and then switched to slots for much better offers/comps per dollar.

 

 

In Oct 2015, CAS told me Mini-Suite was Actual or Theoretical loss of over $7000, and Suites started at over $8000. If they are no longer looking at what your Theo it sounds like someone at the top just doesn't care about getting returning players.

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.... This latest offer has me questioning that. I was told that actual losses have to be greater than $7,500 for a mini suite now, so they are tightening down.....]

 

Is your play on board mostly on Video Poker? I ask because I used to play all VP on board and then switched to slots for much better offers/comps per dollar.

 

 

In Oct 2015, CAS told me Mini-Suite was Actual or Theoretical loss of over $7000, and Suites started at over $8000. If they are no longer looking at what your Theo it sounds like someone at the top just doesn't care about getting returning players.

 

Mainly VP with some slots mixed in, maybe 5% of my total action. I am usually pretty accurate when calculating my Theo (most of my past cruises came home with most of my $). I don't think I could play 40-50 hours of slots only. I enjoy the math behind VP, which is what makes it fun for me. I also believe that CAS counts their hold at perfect strategy based on math, ie the 5-7 percent, rather than at some arbitrary point less than perfect. Basically, they are holding imperfect players at a rate in line with perfection (or reducing comps even further). Seems like the tides are turning with them in relation to players/comps....I will still price them out, but I just think they are slipping down my list (at least). Too much more, and they won't even be competitive....now if Carnival only had a balcony that held 5.... :)

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  • 4 weeks later...
RCL has video poker on their ships. During past year they have been doing better comps for me than NCL.

I have had some contact with URComp, but have not booked anything. I think what has held me back is having to fly to Florida yet again for a cruise. I'd rather do NOLA or Galveston. However do have 9 day booked out of Miami in November.

My wife and I are NCL platinum.

 

We are booked with URComped from Galveston in Jan 19 on RCCL...give URComped a call and ask for Mallory, she is AWESOME!

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